CTS - Verbal - 3

CTS –Verbal - 3

Directions for Questions 1-5: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow on the basis of the information provided in the passage.

MARK HUGHES is a master of the fine art of survival. His Los Angeles-based Herbalife International Inc. is a pyramid outfit that peddles weight-loss and nutrition concoctions of dubious value. Bad publicity and regulatory crackdowns hurt his U.S. business in the late 1980s. But Hughes, 41, continues to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle in a $20 million Beverly Hills mansion. He has been sharing the pad and a yacht with his third wife, a former Miss Petite U.S.A. He can finance this lavish lifestyle just on his salary and bonus, which last year came to $7.3 million.

He survived his troubles in the U.S. by moving overseas, where regulators are less zealous and consumers even more naive, at least initially. Today 77% of Herbalife retail sales derive from overseas. Its new prowling grounds: Asia and Russia. Last year Herbalife's net earnings doubled, to $45 million, on net sales of $632 million. Based on Herbalife's Nasdaq-traded stock, the company has a market capitalization of $790 million, making Hughes 58% worth $454 million.

There's a worm, though, in Hughes apple. Foreigners aren't stupid. In the end they know when they've been had. In France, for instance, retail sales rose to $97 million by 1993 and then plunged to $12 million last year. In Germany sales hit $159 million in 1994 and have since dropped to $54 million.

Perhaps aware that the world may not provide an infinite supply of suckers, Hughes wanted to unload some of his shares. But in March, after Herbalife's stock collapsed, he put off a plan to dump about a third of his holdings on the public.

Contributing to Hughes' woes, Herbalife's chief counsel and legal attack dog, David Addis, quit in January. Before packing up, he reportedly bellowed at Hughes, "I can't protect you anymore." Addis, who says he wants to spend more time with his family, chuckles and claims attorney-client privilege.

Trouble on the home front, too. On a recent conference call with distributors, Hughes revealed he's divorcing his wife, Suzan, whose beaming and perky image adorns much of Herbalife's literature.

Meanwhile, in a lawsuit that's been quietly moving through Arizona's Superior Court, former Herbalife distributor Daniel Fallow of Sandpoint, Idaho charges that Herbalife arbitrarily withholds payment to distributors and marks up its products over seven times the cost of manufacturing. Fallow also claims Hughes wanted to use the Russian mafia to gain entry to that nation's market.

Fallow himself is no angel, but his lawsuit, which was posted on the Internet, brought out other complaints. Randy Cox of Lewiston, Idaho says Herbalife "destroyed my business" after he and his wife complained to the company that they were being cheated out of their money by higher-ups in the pyramid organization.

Will Hughes survive again? Don't count on it this time.

1.       Herbalife Inc is based in:

A.      Los Angeles         (Ans)

B.      Columbus

C.      New York

D.      Austin

2.       Daniel Fallow:

A.      Was a former attorney for Hughes

B.      Was a former distributor of Herbalife             (Ans)

C.      Co-founded Herbalife

D.      Ran Herbalife’s  German Unit

3.       The complaint of Randy Cox of Lewiston, Idaho, against Herbalife was:

A.      The company did not pay them their dues

B.      The products supplied by Hughes were inferior

C.      Their higher-ups in the pyramid cheated them      (Ans)

D.      Hughes had connections with the Russian mafia

4.       In the year in which Hughes' salary and bonuses came to US$ 7.3 million, what was the retail sales for Herbalife in France?

A.      $12 million                           (Ans)

B.      $159 million

C.      $54 million

D.      $97 million

5.       At the time when this article was written, if Herbalife had had a market capitalisation of $ 1 billion, what would have been Hughes' share?

A.     $420 million

B.     $580 million                               (Ans)

C.     $125 million

D.     $500 million

 

Directions for Questions 6-10: Read each sentence to find if there is any grammatical error in it. If there is any error, it will be only one part of the sentence.  The number or alphabet of that part is your answer.( Disregard punctuation errors if any)

6. Modern film techniques / are far superior / than that / employed in the past /

               A                                           B                            C                   D

Ans: C   (‘those’  instead of ‘that’)

7.       I believe / that respect / is more preferable than / money

                     A                  B                                C                              D

Ans:  C   (the word ‘more’ to be removed)

8.  The principals of equal justice / for all is one of / the corner stones of our / democratic way of life.

                    A                                                  B                              C                                             D                        

Ans:  A  (The word should be ‘principles’)

9.  In order to save patrol, / motorists must have to/ be very cautious/ while driving along the highways/ 

                          A                                         B                            C                                   D  

Ans: B ( we can remove ‘must’ or put ‘will’ in its place)   

                

10.   Not one of the children / has ever sang/ on any occasion / in public before/ no error

                     A                                         B                       C                                    D                   E

Ans: A ( the right word is ‘none’ instead of ‘no one’)

Directions for Questions 11-15: In each of the following questions, some sentences are given which are on the same theme. Decide which sentence is the most preferable with respect to grammar; meaning and usage, suitable for formal writing in English. Find the correct sentence.

11. A) He came in too quickly to avoid waking his father  

       B) He entered in quickly. so as not wake his father.    

      C) Having  not to wake his father, he came in quickly 

      D) He came in very quickly so that he might avoid waking his father.     (Ans)

       

12.   A) The teacher asked the student with a frown on his face, to leave the room    (Ans)

        B) The teacher asked with a frown on his face the student to leave the room

        

13.    A) Common people are rather impressed by the style of a speech than by its substance  

          B) Common people are impressed  rather by the style of a speech than by its substance    

          C) Rather common people are impressed by the style of a speech than by its substance     

          D) Common people are impressed by the style of a speech than by its substance.  (ANS)

     

14.   A) I have read such a lot about him that I am looking forward to seeing him very much 

        B) I am reading such a lot about him that I will be looking forward to seeing him very  much       (Ans)  

        C) Having read such a lot about him that I will be looking forward to seeing him very much    

        D) I had read such a lot about him that I am looking forward to seeing him very much.  

15.   A) By June next year, Ajay will be twenty years working in the office.     

        B) Being twenty years completed, Ajay will be working in this office till June next    

        C) Till June next year, Ajay will work in the office for twenty years.    

        D) Ajay will be working in this office upon completing twenty years by next June.     (Ans)